CAREER: Integrating geology and metallurgy for efficient, sustainable production of critical elements for the green economy

向可持续、低碳经济的转型依赖于铀、钒、铜和钴等能源金属的长期可行供应。然而，随着易开采矿藏的枯竭，从国内来源生产这些金属变得更加困难；剩下的是具有复杂矿物学的较低品位矿石。目前的提炼工艺是为较简单的矿石设计的，效率低下，有时甚至无效，剩余资源更复杂。相反，该项目将开发一种几何外科方法来开采和提取能源、金属和其他关键元素。这包括根据个别矿带的详细矿物学和成分量身定做提取工艺，从而能够更有效地提取能源金属和减少矿山废物。这将有助于维持未来支持低碳能源的金属的可持续供应。该项目的附带好处包括一个教育和外展计划，该计划将扩大教师和公众对矿产资源主题的接触。该项目将整合地质数据和冶金实验，开发专门的几何冶金方法来提取关键能源金属，从铀、钒和钴开始。这些金属对低碳能源发电和绿色经济至关重要，但它们的供应受到矿石品位低、矿物学复杂以及对矿物特性如何控制冶金行为的理解空白的威胁。研究将首先详细描述全球重要的沉积物赋存矿石铀、钒和钴中的矿石性质和矿石矿物分布。一系列浸出实验将阐明矿石矿物性质(结晶度、成分)和流体-矿物反应之间的关系，从而实现优化的提取设计。初步结果将用于建立科罗拉多高原铀和钒矿床矿带最佳开采参数的几何冶金模型，在那里将测试这种方法。这将重置将地质与冶金洞察区分开来的传统模式，并将为推广到世界其他关键矿产资源提供一个模式。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy depends on viable long-term supplies of energy metals such as uranium, vanadium, copper, and cobalt. However, producing these metals from domestic sources is becoming more difficult as easy-to-mine deposits are exhausted; what remains are lower-grade ores with complex mineralogy. Current extractive processes are designed for simpler ores and are inefficient, sometimes ineffective, with the more complicated remaining resources. This project will instead develop a geometallurgical approach to mining and extracting energy metals and other critical elements. This consists of tailoring extractive processes to the detailed mineralogy and composition of individual ore zones, enabling more efficient extraction of energy metals and less mine waste. This will help to maintain a sustainable supply of the metals that support low-carbon energy in the future. Ancillary benefits from this project include an education and outreach program that will broaden engagement with mineral resources topics among teachers and the public. This project will integrate geological data and metallurgical experiments to develop tailored geometallurgical approaches to the extraction of critical energy metals, starting with uranium, vanadium, and cobalt. These metals are vital to low-carbon energy generation and the green economy, but their supply is threatened by low ore deposit grades, complex mineralogy, and gaps in the understanding of how mineral properties control metallurgical behavior. Research will begin with detailed characterization of ore properties and ore mineral distribution in the globally important sediment-hosted ores of U, V, and Co. A series of leaching experiments will illuminate the connections between ore mineral properties (crystallinity, composition) and fluid-mineral reactions, enabling optimized extraction design. The initial results will be used to develop geometallurgical models of optimized extraction parameters for ore zones in the Colorado Plateau U and V deposits, where this approach will be tested. This will reset the traditional paradigm, which compartmentalizes geological from metallurgical insights, and will provide a model for extension to other critical mineral resources worldwide.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.